It was the hardest choice that a father could ever make: whether to save his drowning wife or his two-year-old child. Michael Mpango chose to save his child

The incident happened on Lake Kariba in Siavonga district, Southern Province, when the boat the family was travelling on capsized on Tuesday around 19:00 hours. Mr Mpango’s wife, Esther Maambo, who was in her early 20s, failed to swim to the shore. Siavonga District Commissioner Lovemore Kanyama said in a statement yesterday that the 33-year-old father of Kaleya Township managed to swim to the shore with his child. “The husband managed to swim while helping the two-year-old child to safety, but his wife failed to swim,” he said.

Mr Kanyama said the woman’s body is still missing, and that marine police are still searching for it on the lake. He said it is unfortunate that Siavonga district has continued to record deaths on Lake Kariba almost on a weekly basis.

“It is disheartening witnessing people dying on the lake. My advice to the people of Siavonga, fishermen and those using water transport is to be very careful with the boats they use,” Mr Kanyama said. He advised residents of the district to avoid using defective boats. In July, two Yalelo Fish Farming Limited employees drowned on Lake Kariba after their boat capsized.

T h e t w o w o r k e r s w e r e conducting a monitoring exercise on the lake when they met their fate. And early this month, two fishermen drowned on the same lake while two others managed to swim to safety after a water accident. This prompted Mr Kanyama to direct Siavonga marine police to arrest fishermen found fishing in bad weather to prevent such deaths. He said many fishermen disregard advice against venturing out on the lake when weather conditions are not conducive.

“Some of these deaths we have recorded are as a result of the strong waves on the lake and people not wearing life jackets,” he said. Mr Kanyama also said action will be taken against companies which will allow their workers to go on the lake without life jackets.